Regulation
Trump warns US must conquer bitcoin or China will, vows to create bitcoin ‘reserve’ – Firstpost
Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump. AP
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said at a bitcoin conference Saturday that the U.S. must dominate the sector or China will, his latest move to woo backers of the cryptocurrency, which Beijing has restricted and once dismissed as a “scam.”
Speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Trump positioned himself as a pro-cryptocurrency candidate ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, saying he would make the United States a world leader in cryptocurrency and adopt more favorable regulations than likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Republican Party has promised looser regulation for cryptocurrencies, and Trump has criticized Democrats’ attempts to regulate the sector.
“If we don’t embrace cryptocurrency and bitcoin technology, China will, other countries will. They will dominate, and we can’t let China dominate. They’re making too much progress as it is,” Trump said.
China has cracked down on cryptocurrencies and has strict controls on capital movements across its borders. But people there are still able to trade tokens like bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchanges, and Chinese investors can also open bank accounts abroad to buy cryptocurrencies.
Trump said he would establish a presidential advisory council on cryptocurrencies and create a national bitcoin “reserve” using cryptocurrency currently held by the U.S. government and largely seized in law enforcement actions.
“Never sell your bitcoin,” Trump said. “If elected, it would be the policy of my administration, the United States of America, to retain 100% of all bitcoin that the United States government currently holds or acquires in the future,” he said.
Trump added that he would like to see bitcoin mining expanded by U.S. companies, even though he called the cryptocurrency a “scam” in 2021.
Bitcoin price initially dropped after Trump’s speech, but then rebounded and was last quoted up 0.94% at $68,182.
Trump also reiterated that he would commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a life sentence for creating and operating the website Silk Road, which allowed users to secretly buy and sell drugs and other illegal products.
Ulbricht’s time served was “enough,” Trump said to applause and chants of “Liberate Ross” from the crowd.
Countries around the world, including the United States, have expressed concern that highly volatile, privately managed digital currencies could undermine government control over financial and monetary systems, increase systemic risk, promote financial crime, and harm investors.
Digital asset advocates say cryptocurrency users are becoming a growing political force this election cycle, though it’s unclear how many users would prioritize cryptocurrency over other issues at the ballot box.
Some cryptocurrency advocates are backing Trump, and any move by the United States to create a national bitcoin reserve would likely be seen by them as a major step in legitimizing cryptocurrency.
Jack Mallers, CEO of global bitcoin app Strike, told Reuters that Trump’s proposal to create a strategic bitcoin reserve was an “incredible vote of confidence.”
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency industry executives are pushing back against the enforcement measures taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Joe Biden.
The agency said several cryptocurrency firms, including Coinbase and Binance, facilitated the trading of digital assets on their platforms that were supposed to be registered as securities, which the firms denied.
A group of about 30 Democratic lawmakers and congressional candidates sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee and Harris on Saturday, urging them to take a “forward-thinking” approach to digital assets.
“From an electoral perspective, cryptographic and blockchain technologies have a disproportionate impact in securing victories on all ballots,” they wrote.
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